Public-listed operator Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP) reported revenues from business activities of more than $37 million for the first 11 months of the year, up 22 per cent year-on-year, despite regional and global economic uncertainty tied to Covid-19 and the Ukraine conflict.
These numbers are according to an unaudited financial report filed by the state-owned river-port enterprise to the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) on December 12.
Broken down by category, port operations accounted for the most, exceeding $29 million (up 20 per cent year-on-year), followed by administrative operations (over $3.78 million; up 17 per cent) and other services ($272,632; down 11 per cent), while other sources topped $3.8 million, rocketing by 55 per cent.
PPAP said the number of cargo vessels handled at its facilities in the January-November period soared by 54.73 per cent year-on-year to 3,271, as oil, gas and cargo throughput rose by 3.58 per cent topping 3.6 million tonnes and container throughput increased by 21.40 per cent to 383,261 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).
A TEU is an inexact unit of cargo capacity used in the shipping industry roughly equivalent to a container with internal dimensions measuring about 20 feet long, eight feet wide and 8.5 feet tall, or a volume roughly 38.5 cubic metres.
PPAP also noted that 78 passenger boats carrying 5,075 people docked at its facilities over the period, up from zero in the same time last year.
PPAP director-general Hei Bavy credited the upturn in the port business to general improvements in economic activity which he tied to the relatively subdued spread of Covid-19 and easing of pandemic-linked restrictions across the globe.
“Economic activity has been improving since most countries opened their borders post-Covid-19, which has contributed to the growth of the port’s business performance during the period,” he said.
Last year, PPAP reported net profits at $12.7 million – up 29 per cent over 2020 – and container throughput at 348,898 TEU, up nearly 20.0 per cent from 290,857 TEUs in 2020, which followed a 3.49 increase from 2019.
In late March, Bavy disclosed that PPAP had forecast container throughput of 394,679 TEUs this year as Covid-19 tapers off, which would be a 13.12 per cent jump from the 2021 figure. The company is well on track to pass that target.
